Toy



y 1939. s. BERGER 7 2,158,052

TOY

Filed July 2, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 INVENTOR 10 2.6 Jamae/[fle/yw' BY mM IM v ATTORNEYS y 1939- s. I. BERGER 2,158,052

TOY

Filed July 2, 1936. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jamaal [Berger 2,4,,M 4% rM,

ATTORNEYS Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 17 Claims.

While the principles of the present invention might be embodied invarious toys the invention finds its preferred embodiment in aspring-motor driven toy which simulates the action of a pair of figuresengaged in combat, typically a pair of pugilists.

An object of the invention is to provide a toy of this character inwhich toy figures representing boxers, fencers, or the like are causedto perform a series of realistic maneuvers which closely simulate theactions of actual contestants.

Two toy figures are caused to circle about each other, hob and weave andthrow punches with utter abandon for a predetermined period of time. Themovement of the figures is in part controlled by the motor and in partchance determined. Preferably the figures are so arranged that afterthey have sparred for a short period of time a bell sounds for the endof a round and simultaneously with, or shortlyafter the sounding of thebell one of the contestants appears to be knocked against the ropes andrendered hors de combat.

The toy figures with loosely hung arms have certain freedom of movementon a turn table which is alternately rotated in opposite directions sothat the figures seem to be circling about each other. A cam mechanismcontrols to some extent the forward and backward movements of thefigures and the rapidity with which the turn table is moved and itsdirection of movement reversed causes the arms of the figures to flailthe air in an apparent effort to wreak great physical violence upon eachother.

Preferably the turn table forms part of a toy representation of a boxingring, the lower portion of the ring concealing the motor, and otheractuating mechanism.

Preferably after the motor has been wound it will be stopped at regularintervals by a timing mechanism and coincidental with the stopping ofthe motor or the thrust of the opening handle to start the motor a gongis rung indicating the end or the beginning of a round, as the case maybe.

Other and more general objects of the invention are to provide a toy ofsimple, rugged, durable, practical construction; a toy which isintriguing to watch because of the realistic actions made by the toyfigures and a toy in which all of the vulnerable parts of the motor andother mechanism are thoroughly protected from tampering by a child.

The invention may be more fully understood from the followingdescription in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a toy embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the motor casing showingmost of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a detail showing the manner in which one section of the triplever is movable independently of the other section to permit winding ofthe motor.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of theoperating parts when the motor is stopped and the figures at rest.

Fig. 5 is a plan View on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a vertical sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is perspective view of the slide bar which is manually operatedto start the motor and automatically operated to stop it. 7

In the drawings, I represents a motor casing or box the top H of whichsimulates the floor of the ring. From the floor rise the ring posts. l2connected by ropes I3. The center of the floor has a circular opening l4therein and a turn table l disposed in this opening affords a movablefioor section upon which the toy figures l6 and I! representing boxersare mounted in a manner to be more fully hereinafter described. The armsl8 of these figures pivot freely at the shoulders.

Secured to the underside of the turn table is an upwardly facing,diametrically extending channel member I9 which near its ends mounts apair of cross pins and 2t. Pivoted on these cross pins are levers 22. Tothe upper end of each lever, which ends project above the surface ofthe. turn table, is secured one foot portion 23 of the figures l6 and I1respectively. Slots 24 and 24 arranged in the turn table and in thebottom of the channel piece l9 respectively limit the rocking movementof the levers 22.

Disposed vertically Within the box spaced from each other are a pair ofplates 25, the ends of which are connected by bridging pieces 26. Plates25 afford bearings for. most of the shafts of the spring motor. Themotor or at least that portion thereof which is confined between theplates 25, 25 may be of substantially conventional construction.

It includes a main shaft 21 journaled in the plates 25, 25 and having anextension 28 which I0 and extends outwardly through a slot 29 in onewall of the box and terminates in a handle 38 which may be turned towind the main spring of the motor. The convolute main spring has one endextending through a slot 32 in one of the plates 26 and reacting againstthe bottom of the slot. The other end of the coil spring Si is anchoredto the main shaft 27. A gear 38 fixed on the main shaft drives a pinion34 on a countershaft 35. Gear 36 on the shaft 35 drives a pinion .6! ona second countershaft 88. Gear 89 on shaft 38 drives a pinion 46 onanother countershaft 4i and a gear 42 on the shaft 4! drives a pinion 43on a shaft 44. All of the shafts 35, 86, 4|, 43 have bearings in theplates 25. Fixed upon the end of the main shaft 21 is a triangularshaped crank arm 45. Fixed upon the end of the shaft 35 is a mutilatedcrown gear v45. The additional shafts 38, 4| and 43 with their gears andpinions merely provide a governor action.

A pair of ears 4'! extending laterally from one plate 25 providemountings for a vertically disposed square shaft 48 the upper end ofwhich fits within a square hub 49 at the center of the turn table. Theshaft 48 extends freely through a cam 50 secured upon the tops of thetwo plates 25 and the channel piece It is spaced above the cam by asleeve 5| on the shaft 48.

Between the ears 4! a pair of pinions 52 and 53 are keyed to shaft 48,these pinions being spaced apart by a spacer sleeve 54. As the mutilatedgear 46 rotates, the teeth 46a thereof alternately engage pinions 52 and53 to effect an alternating rotary motion of the shaft 48 andconsequently of the turn table l5 which is keyed to the shaft. The toyfigures l6 and I! normally tend to overbalance in a rearward directionand thus urge the lower ends of the levers 22 against the perimeter ofthe cam 50'. This action may be assisted by a spring I90. housed inchannel I 9 and urging the lower ends of the lever 22 against the cam.

Cam 50 at one point has a notch 55 therein which may be entered by oneof the levers 22 and as the lever enters this notch the toy figure whichis supported on the lever will overbalance readily and will appear tofall against the ropes. Simultaneously, the motion of the turn tablewill be stopped since the engagement of lever 22 with the fixed cam 58prevents further rotation of the turn table l5, the shaft 48 and theentire train of shafts and gears and pinions which drive I the shaft 48.

With the parts in the position of Fig. 4 it will be observed that theleft hand lever 22 has engaged in slot 55 of the cam and even though thespring of the motor be under tension it is blocked against unwinding.

The mechanism for kicking the lever 22 out of the slot 55 and permittingthe motor to unwind includes a manually manipulable slide bar indicatedgenerally in Fig. 8 at 56. This bar includes a horizontal section 51,slidable in guide ways 58 (Fig. 6) provided at the'under face of the cam58. It also includes a horizontal section 59 downwardly offset fromsection 51., Section 53 extends through a slot in the box I6 andterminates in an upstanding handle piece 60. A slot 6| in the barsection 51 accommodates the shaft 48. An

upstanding lug 62 on the bar section 59 moves into position under thecam 50 when the bar 55 is thrust inwardly as in Fig. 2 but when the barsprings outwardly to the position of Fig. 4 the 22 and cooperates withthe slot 55 of the cam in looking the turn table against furtherrotation.

A composite trip lever consisting of the two sections 63 and 64 ispivoted upon a pin 65 secured to one of the plates 25. A flat spring 66has one end passed through a slot 61 in the section 59 of the bar 56 andits other end passed through an inwardly turned ear 68 carried by oneend of the trip lever section 53. The spring rests upon a correspondingear 69 formed at the upper end of the trip lever section 64. The spring66 serves the two-fold purpose of tending to shift the bar 56 to theright from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 4 and tendingto move the composite trip lever in a clockwise direction about itspivot so that the lug 68 is disposed in the path of a downstruck lug i8integralwith the section 51 of the bar 56. The lower end of the triplever section 63 is provided with a lug H resting against a somewhatlonger lug 12 on the trip lever section 64. The purposes of thisconstruction are (l) to assure movement of trip lever section 64 in aclockwise direction with the section 63 under the impetus of the spring66; (2) to insure movement of the section 63 with the section 64 underthe impetus of the crank arm 45, when this arm is turning in a clockwisedirection and to permit independent movement of the section 64 by thecrank arm 45 when this arm is turned in a counterclockwise direction.

In winding the main spring the motor shaft 2'! is turnedcounterclockwise and at each revolution it will tilt the trip leversection 64 independently of the section 63 thereby preventing release ofthe latch H! from the lug 68. After the spring has been wound, however,and the parts are in the position of Fig. 2, the unwinding of the springmoves the crank arm 45 in a clockwise direction and as this crank armengages the section 64 of the trip lever both sections of the trip leverwill be moved in a counterclockwise direction until lug 68 moves out ofthe path of the lug l8 and permits the spring 66 to snap the bar 56 fromthe position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 4.

It will be observed that as the bar is thrust inwardly its extreme innerend engages the lever 22 which has been disposed in the slot 55 of thecam 55 and moves this lever out of the slot so that the motor is free toturn. Movement of this lever out of the slot is simultaneous with themovement of the lug 52 out of the path of the opposite lever 22.

As above suggested a more realistic effect is obtained by ringing a gongat the beginning and end of each round (in other words every time thatthe motor is manually started or automatically stopped). With this endin view a gong 88 is mounted on a carrier strip or bracket 8! within thebox. A striker 82 is pivotally connected as at 83 to one of the plates25 and this striker is provided with a tail piece 84 extending upwardlyinto an elongated notch 85 in the section 59 of the bar 56. The lowerend of this striker 821s pointed as indicated at 86 and rests adjacentthe apex of a generally V-shaped spring 8'1, which spring has one endanchored at 86 to the floor of the box l0 and at its other free end isprovided with the V-portion.

Projecting laterally from the body 82 of the striker are fingers 89which serve to contact the gong 88 every time that the pointed end 86 ofthe striker shifts from one side to the other of the past-center spring81. Upon movement of the bar 56 from either extreme position toward theother the end wall of the notch 85 engages the tail piece 84 of thestriker 82 and moves the striker to a position beyond a dead centerposition with respect to the spring 8'. whereupon the spring completesthe movement of the striker and causes one of the fingers 89 to hit thegong.

In other words the spring 31 is the real actuating means for the strikerand the bar 56 merely shifts the striker to tension the spring and movesthe striker beyond the dead center position where it can be actuated bythe spring.

I claim:

1. A toy including a motor, a movable platform actuated by the motor, apair of toy figures representing combatants each having a downwardextension with a horizontal pivot below the platform and a cam fordisplacing said extensions and thereby operating the toy figures as theplatform is actuated.

2. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated-byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table.

3. A toy of class described including a spring motor, turn table, meansconnecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternating rotarymotion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted on theturn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, said figureshaving limited freedom of movement with respect to the turn table andcam means concealed below the turn table for moving the figures.

4. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representng boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, said figureshaving limited freedom of movement with respect to the turn table andcam means concealed below the turn table for moving the figures, leversupon which said figures are mounted and including portions extendingthrough the turn table and engaging the cam means. 7

5. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means normallylocking the turn table and motor against movement and manually shiftableto release the turn table and permit actuation thereof by the motor.

6. A toy of the class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means normallylocking the turn table and motor against movement and manually shiftablemeans to release the tum table and permit actuation thereof by themotor, and spring means for automatically restoring said locking meansto locking position after the motor has turned a predetermined number ofrevolutions.

7-. A toy of the class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, a latchnormally locking the turn table and motor against movement and manuallyshiftable means to release the latch and permit actuation of the turntable by the motor said last being also operated by the motor.

8.v A. toy of the class described including a spring motor, a turntable, means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting analternating rotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxersmounted on the turn table and including freely swinging arm portionsactuated by reversal of the direction of movement of the turn table,means normally locking the turn table and motor against movement andmanually shiftable means to release the turn table and permit actuationthereof by the motor, and spring means for automatically restoring saidlocking means to locking position after the motor has turned apredetermined number of revolutions, and an audible signal operated eachtime that the motor is stopped.

9. A toy of class described including a. spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means normallylocking the turn table and motor against movement and manuallyshift'able to release the turn table and permit actuation thereof by themotor, and spring means for automatically restoring said locking meansto locking position after the motor has turned a predetermined number ofrevolutions, and an audible signal operated each time that the motor isstopped or started.

10. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and in eluding freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means wherebyone of said figures is caused to assume a position as if it had beenknocked out.

11. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table.means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to th latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means wherebyone of said figures is caused to assume a position as if it had beenknocked out, and means for simultaneously sounding a gong to indicatethe end of round.

12. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal ofthe direction of movement of the turn table, means formanually starting and automatically stopping the motor.

13. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, means formanually starting and automatically stopping the motor, a gong, andmeans for sounding the gong to signal the beginning or end of a roundeach time the motor is started or stopped.

14. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, a simulation ofa boxing ring including a box like lower portion housing the motor thetop of said box representing the fioor of the ring and said turn tableconstituting a movable section of the ring floor.

15. A toy of class described including a spring motor, a turn table,means connecting the motor and turn table for imparting an alternatingrotary motion to the latter, toy figures representing boxers mounted onthe turn table and including freely swinging arm portions actuated byreversal of the direction of movement of the turn table, a simulation ofa boxing ring including a box like lower portion housing the motor thetop of said box representing the floor of the ring and said turn tableconstituting a movable section of the ring floor, corner posts risingfrom the fioor and ropes connecting the corner posts and means forcausing one of the figures to fall against the ropes when the motorstops.

it. A toy including a pair of figures simulating boxers, means forcausing said figures to circle about each other alternately in oppositedirections, means to cause said figures to bend back and forth and meansto cause the arms of said figures to flail. r 7

17. A toy including a. pair of figures simulating boxers, means forcausing said figures to circle about each other alternately in oppositedirections, means to cause said figures to bend back and forth and meansto cause the arms of said figures to flail, the movement of said figuresbeing in part mechanically eifected and in part chance determined.

SAMUEL I. BERGER.

